Arles, France is a gem for it's UNESCO World Heritage Roman arena, charm and connections with Van Gogh and Gaugin, not to mention the amazing nearby Camargue. They still have French-style bull fights in this arena. We are huge fans of Van Gogh and he created about 300 paintings and drawings while he lived in Arles in the late 1880's. Many of the places and things he painted there can still be seen which adds to the magic.

Arles is only about an hour from the Cote d'Azur and I really enjoy how the different towns in southern France all seem to have their own unique flavor. It takes many long-stay visits to get to know them well and as much as we have seen, there are still many more I want to explore or return to.

Once Mozart is fluent-as-a-native in Mandarin she wants to learn French next ( which should be fairly easy for her since she is so fluent in Spanish), so we've been dreaming about where we will do our long stay in southern France to immerse in the lovely language. Why not Arles or some place in Provence, eh?

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Be still my beating heart! Allez, Mozart! Vive la France!

Your quest to collect languages for your daughter was how I found you. It is a profound joy and passion of my own so you can only imagine how thrilling it's been to vicariously experience your linguistic path. Our path includes French, Spanish, and German. I love to share my hobby (given to me by my own parents!) with my girls. Keeping it JOYFUL has been the key for us.

I just LOVE what you're able to do with your unique life...but what about those you can't go full out like that? Should we just hang it up? Absolutely not!! How to immerse minus the country of origin? Switching each and every DVD and CD/iPod to the language of choice, subscribing to TV stations in that language, declaring massive blocks of "No English" times for the whole family (with much merriment and joy), and connecting with friends who hail from that language's country.

We will spend time in the French Alps and in Paris this summer. As long and slow as hubby's stateside work will allow. :-)

You are so darling @Hullsedge and I can see we are kindred spirits! Makes me so happy you found us through language learning and to hear about your language path as a child and passing on to your kids.

Oh yes indeed, languages can be attained without travel...as that is what we did for the first 5 years! Couldn't agree with you more.

Ohh, lucky you ..to be in France this summer!

We have so many happy memories of France ( and Europe) that we will always be happy to return.

Our French is not so good, so it will be a relief for the whole family ...and make France even more fun, when Mozart is fluent.

She has been wanting to get fluent in French since 5, but we felt we needed to get the Mandarin fully fluent first.

Hopefully her Spanish fluency ( and strong intention) will make French fairly easy for her once we get back to France.

Love this photo! I share so much your enthusiasm about Arle and Provence. In the past 8 years, I spent most of my vacation time in this region (precisely, in Luberon and in Cannes/Nice). I must admit, a day trip to Arle represents a mandatory feature of my family vacation. It’s so much like a discovery journey, mingling with the locals and getting rich experiences, literaly through seemingly small everyday things, like walking in the market, tasting olive oils, buying bread… My love to this region grows so strong that I’m brainstorming ways of making my stays longer, and ‘more permanent’. Did you even consider moving to Provence?
In any case, enjoy your vacation!

We are headed to France this summer and my daughter and I just started with a tutor. (We'd tried to two months ago, but it fell through and I gave up). As someone who only speaks English, I REALLY want to learn another language...and have my daughter enjoy that skill! I hope to take a longer vacation to France in a year or two so we can immerse ourselves in it. Thanks for the recommendation of a place to do it!